Minding the gap: academic outcomes from pre-college programs. Issue 1 (2nd January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kotlikoff, Phoebe; Rahman, Ahmed S.; Smith, Katherine A.
• Is Part Of: Education economics. Volume 30:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 3
• Page End: 28
• Publication Date: 2022-01-02
• Subjects: Human capital -- remedial education -- higher education -- liberal arts college; Education -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; 338.4737
• DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2021.1931664
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-5292

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper analyzes the effects of assignment to a one-year college preparatory program on academic performance in college. We use a large dataset of United States Naval Academy students from the 1988 to 2018 graduating classes, of which a little over 22% received remediation. Exploiting the Academy's unique admissions criteria, we instrument for pre-college treatment using the number and quality of other applicants originating from the same Congressional district. We find that these pre-college programs promote significant but short-lived improvements in academic grades. They also can encourage students to choose STEM-oriented majors, and promote retention by lowering voluntary exits.